Author: Jenna Shelton
Publisher: Brief Policy Perspectives
Publication Year: 2019
Summary: The following article is an opinion piece about the need for policymakers to use data ethically. The author points out that data can help inform public policy and lead to better decision-making. But policymakers must keep ethical considerations in mind when using the data. These considerations are: 1). If/how the data were misused in the past: the author provides an example of racial data being used for redlining (discriminatory loaning practices that had long-term negative implications for Black Americans); 2). The potential impact of the data on vulnerable groups: the author describes how the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) released millions of hurricane survivors’ personal data; 3). The security of the data: events such as the improper FEMA hurricane data release erode trust in the government and make future data collection more difficult; and 4). Whether or not the data was generated ethically: before scientific studies were well-regulated, there were many examples of unethical data collection, such as the Tuskegee Syphilis Study and the Stanford Prison Experiment. Policymakers need to past ethical shortcomings and keep these points in mind when making decisions.